Forget about the obvious. The college football games where the Fightin’ Illini truly upset #6 Wisconsin; or Oregon established Pac 12 supremacy with a win at Washington; that Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa suffered a high ankle sprain which will concern Nick Saban for the remainder of the season; that Vanderbilt upset #22 Missouri; that BYU downed #14 Boise State; that Tulane was walloped by an angry Memphis team and that Temple was massacred by #19 SMU; or that F&M knocked off #16 Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for the first win in 6 years and the Blue Jays first loss in October since 2010. Or that Princeton put up 65 points at Brown; Columbia routed Penn at Homecoming by a score of 44-6; that Yale stepped up in competition and won on the road at Richmond; and Harvard went to Worcester, MA and defeated Holy Cross. Nor was it that Amherst and Wesleyan both lost on Saturday, with Amherst suffering two consecutive losses, leaving Middlebury as the sole unbeaten squad in the NESAC. I would be remiss I didn’t say that Rutgers scored an offensive TD at home versus unbeaten Minnesota. Yawning again.
No it wasn’t that the New Jersey Devils won their first two games of the season at home by beating the Rangers and Vancouver, with top draft pick Jack Hughes scoring his first NHL goal against the Canucks, a team his brother plays for. Or that there will be a game on October 26 between Calgary and Winnipeg in Regina, Saskatchewan. Not even that the St. Louis Blues went to the White House to celebrate their Stanley Cup win.
While there was the first marathon completed in under two hours and there is a new controversy brewing about shoes which are higher and whether they give elite runners even a greater advantage. Nope, not that.
Nor that a promising young boxer succumbed to his ring injuries. As sad as that was, it isn’t the first story.
Even Pat Mahomes going down with a knee dislocation, with the Chiefs winning at Denver and now totally changing the landscape of the AFC for at least three weeks, the amount of time the Chiefs QB will need to recover, isn’t the big news. Or the Jets rising up and beating a mystifying Dallas Cowboys team behind the return of Sam Darnold for their first win of the year. While certainly big news, I cannot go with that as my lead.
I am even going to leave my NBA intro for last along with my list of top players per franchise. Nice stuff, but what else could top that?
Try the ALCS and NLCS. That was where the action was. The two series ended so differently yet were evocative of such great thrills and chills for the fans who watched.
Outside of the D..C. Metro area, who could have foreseen the Washington Nationals first winning the Wild Card game, plus triumphing over the favored Los Angeles Dodgers? Then to go on and sweep the St. Louis Cardinals behind the timely pitching from their starters and the clutch hitting of the regulars?
If you had objectively looked at the Nats, you would have seen a loose team, unafraid of its plight, with a bevy of excellent starting pitchers. Matt Scherzer, Steven Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and Anibel Sanchez are as formidable a pitching foursome which exists on MLB teams. Shortstop Trea Turner batted .298 in 2019 and he is a leadoff catalyst. Third baseman Anthony Rendon only batted. .319, slugged 34 homers and drove in 126 runs while playing steady defense. Overall, Washington hit 231 home runs and had a .265 team batting average. Their only weakness was in the bullpen, which they overcame by using Strasburg and Scherzer effectively in the playoffs.
Then there is outfielder Gerardo Parra, who has infected the team and its crazed fans with the “Baby Shark” phenomenon. Parra started to use that music as his walk up to bat sound on June 19th, to rid himself of a slump, to maybe excise the Nats of their slump and just because his little daughter loved the song. It has become the anthem for the team, a rallying cry which has gotten legs. (Should Washington win the World Series, is an appearance on Shark Tank forthcoming?)
A well-rested Nationals team awaited the end of the ALCS. A series which had many eyes on it, as it featured the big time offenses of the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees plus the trio of Astros starters and the excellent bullpen the the Yankees had put together.
The 7-0 New York win behind Masahiro Tanaka in Game 1 proved to be somewhat of a mirage. The Astros, with the expected top flight pitching by Justin Verlander and the out of sight pitching from Gerrit Cole, with an assist from Game 1 starter Zach Greinke, took the next three contests.
Game 2 was an enigma for New York fans. Holding a 2-1 lead, with Chad Green mowing down Astros in relief of starter James Paxton, manager Aaron Boone took the ball from Green in the bottom of the 5th inning and handed to the lately inconsistent pitching of Adam Ottavino. Ottavino, who usually possesses a deadly slider, threw a flat one to Astros outfielder George Springer, who promptly hit the ball over the fence, tying the score.
An at bat in the top of the 11th proved tp be costly for New York. Catcher Gary Sanchez, who hit very little in the ALCS, was battling Astros reliever Josh James, who had just entered the game. Fouling off pitches and reaching a full count with two outs, Sanchez was punched out by the home plate umpire on a ball which was clearly outside the strike zone.
J.A. Happ, the last of 9 Yankees pitchers and a starter during the regular season, left a pitch up high enough for Astros shortstop Carlos Correa to deposit in the right field stands for a walk off victory and start a delirious celebration and dance. Had the Yankees hit better that Aaron Judge’s 2 run, 423 foot blast off of Verlander in the fourth inning and capitalized on the opportunities presented to them, it could have been a 2-0 lead for New York heading home. Especially the one play where D.J. LeMahieu inexplicably was thrown out by Correa at home to end a rally. But it wasn’t to be for New York.
Game 3 was all Cole, a 7 inning 4 hit shut out with 7 strikeouts. Nonetheless, the Yankees had their chances via 5 base on balls and didn’t capitalize. Rain intervened on Wednesday, setting up a potential 4 games in 4 days scenario.
In Game 4, Greinke recovered to pitch well enough to keep the Astros in the lead. Chad Green, who had been nearly invincible, and Tommy Kahnle, who had not allowed an earned run in the longest time, were tagged for 3 run homers. The vaunted bullpen was running on fumes. Aaron Boone wasn’t getting the length from his starters that he needed.
Game 5 was an elimination game. Yankee Stadium was buzzing. James Paxton had another rough first inning and New York was behind 1-0. Verlander wasn’t sharp in the first inning and it resulted in a leadoff homer by LeMahieu and an unlikely three run home run from the bat of Aaron Hicks, striking the foul pole. Hicks, who was possibly looking at Tommy John surgery for his elbow, had been fooling around at his Arizona home and found his arm was sound again. Good thing he was back. Suddenly it was 4-1 Yankees. No more runs would be scored as Verlander settled down and Paxton threw a gutsy 111 pitches. The bullpen closed out the game and the series was headed back to Houston.
Both teams arrived in Texas in the early morning hours. TV, press and the umpires were delayed by mechanical issues on their charter plane, landing at nearly 11:00 am CDT. Not what anybody wanted, given that there were no days off after the rain out.
This Game 6 became a classic. Both managers opted for bullpen pitchers to open the game. Green, who had been over utilized, pitched poorly. A three run homer by a slumping Yuri Gurriel followed. New York chipped away, with Sanchez driving in Didi Gregorius in the second inning and Gio Urshela smashing a homer into the bullpen in right field in the 4th inning.
Kahnle was pitching for the third time in 3 days and Houston extended the game with a grounder to short which resulted in a force at second while Astros second baseman Joe Altuve raced home. Playing the infield back cost New York a run. 4-2 Houston.
CBS Sports noted that the Yankees had the tying or go ahead run come to the plate 22 times in Game 6. 22 times!! One of the more egregious instances was in the 8th inning after Judge had laced a single to left. Hicks hit a blooper which Astros left fielder somehow caught and doubled up Judge at first base as the Yankees star thought the ball would not be caught.
Still, in the top of the 9th inning, LeMahieu stepped up and swatted a game-tying 2 run blast to knot the score at 4. The Yankees had seized momentum.
Except they hadn’t. Closer Aroldis Chapman was brought in to pitch. He does not pitch well in tie score contests. He managed to get the first two Astros out before walking Springer.
Up strode Altuve. The Yankees had two choices—go after Altuve or pitch around him to face defensive replacement and weaker hitting Jake Marisnick. We know the result—a slider hung belt high to which the future Hall of Famer Altuve drove over the wall to end the series at 12:12 am EDT. It was predictable. What a blunder.
New York scored 22 runs against Houston, yet lost the series. Houston skipper A.J.Hinch didn’t out manage his good friend, Yankees manager Aaron Boone. It was Boone and his coaches who didn’t recognize situations which could have played out differently. The management of the bullpen was atrocious. They were also stuck with a bottom of the order hitting plague which finally erupted a bit in Game 6. Sanchez was awful behind the plate and at bat. Giancarlo Stanton’s injury, as much as he tried to come back in Game 5, was costly. Eduardo Encarnacion, the DH, looked old and outclassed.
Fan X, who should stick to analyzing his Mets, said to trade Judge. That is not happening. His defensive play made up for his lack of power. Deconstructing the team is not the idea either.
However, trading Sanchez might be an option. Who knows what to do with Stanton—if healthy, he is so tough paired with Judge. Gregorius is a free agent. Will Happ, nearly 37, stay? What about Jordan Montgomery coming back and same with Luis Severino and Domingo German, whose absence was enormous. They face decisions on Brett Gardner, Luke Voit, Mike Tauchman, Cameron Maybin and Clint Frazier.
New York played over its head during the season. Too many injuries finally caught up with them. This will be a subject for later discussion. Game 6 was exciting—like a Game 7 atmosphere. I felt like I did when I watched Bill Mazeroski launch a Ralph Terry pitch over the left field wall at Forbes Field, giving the Pittsburgh Pirates a dramatic walk off win in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series. Empty for the moment but hoping that the 2020 Yankees will play like the 1961 team which won the Series.
Meanwhile, the 2019 World Series will be based upon which pitching holds up and which is more burnt out. Can Cole continue his unreal dominance? Will the bullpen hold up for Washington? Can there really be 6 or 7 high quality starters for each team? Are Turner and Rendon capable of equalizing Springer and Altuve? Is there going to be more drama and suspense in this matchup? Everyone is on normal rest. It is time for the World Series.
The NBA season begins on Tuesday night. Don’t worry Knicks fans—your team will be better and still be mediocre. Besides, the experts are more salivating over Eastern teams like Milwaukee, Boston and Philadelphia. The Nets might make the playoffs, but without Kevin Durant, they aren’t a real contender. The 76’ers are interesting—barring major injuries. If Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid have fine seasons, they could advance to the NBA Finals.
Out West, Golden State is projected for only 45-48 wins without Durant and Klay Thompson. Everyone thinks that it is Lakers-Clippers, with the Rockets possibly sneaking in. What I see is tremendous competitive balance—the Lakers, Clippers, Portland, Dallas, Houston, Denver and Utah are all legitimate contenders. Maybe even the Warriors if healthy at the end of the season. Sacramento is improved; so is Phoenix. Don’t count out Greg Popovich and San Antonio to give teams fits. Memphis and Minnesota will surprise at times.
Then there is New Orleans. Zion Williamson has knee issues which will sideline him for a few weeks at the start of the campaign. If they are healthy, the Pelicans would be in the mix.
Thus, there are no clearcut choices to be in the NBA Finals like the Warriors or Cavaliers when LeBron James was there.
Speaking of James, he should stick to basketball and not get caught up in the maelstrom that the Hong Kong-China protests caused. He has an image to protect with all of his investments, which would be better served if he kept quiet. Leave the comments to the coaches like Steve Kerr and Popovich and Commissioner Adam Silver. Just play the game, Lebron. The fickle Lakers fans are demanding another title and they sure don’t want the Clippers to be holding the trophy.
Here are my top players per franchise. Comments are always welcome.
New York: Ewing/Frazier/Reed
Boston: Russell/Bird/Havlicek
Baltimore/Washington: Unseld/Hayes/Monroe
Philadelphia: Erving/Iverson/M. Malone
Miami: Wade/James/Mourning
New Jersey/Brooklyn: Kidd/Erving/Buck Williams (Rick Barry was only 6th)
Chicago: Jordan/Pippen/Jerry Sloan (Bob Love came in 4th)
Detroit: I. Thomas/Dumars/Ben Wallace (Laimbeer 4th??)
Cleveland: James/Mark Price/Brad Daugherty (Irving is 9th)
Orlando: O’Neal/Anfernee (Penny) Hardaway/D. Howard
Charlotte: Gerald Wallace/Raymond Felton/Emeka Okafor
St. Louis/Atlanta: Wilkins/Petit/Hudson
Houston: Olajuwon/M. Malone/Hayes
Dallas: Nowitzki/Mark Aguirre/Rolando Blackman
Phoenix: Nash/Barkley/Kevin Johnson
Denver: Alex English/Carmelo Anthony/Dikembe Mutombo
New Orleans/Utah: Stockton/K. Malone/Adrian Dantley (Maravich was 4th)
Los Angeles Lakers: Bryant/E. Johnson/Abdul-Jabbar
Philadelphia/Golden State: Chamberlain/S.Curry/Barry
Cincinnati etc./Sacramento: O. Robertson/Webber/Cousins
Charlotte/New Orleans: A.Davis/C.Paul/ Mourning (Not Mugsy Bogues?)
Minnesota: Garnett/Wally Szczerbiak/Sam Cassell (wow!!)
Buffalo/San Diego/Los Angeles: Bob Mc Adoo/Elton Brand/C. Paul
Seattle/Oklahoma City: Gary Payton/Durant/Fred Brown
Toronto: Carter/C.Bosh/Damon Stoudamire
Indiana: Miller/Mel Daniels/Jermaine O’Neal Rick Smits was next)
Vancouver/Memphis: Zach Randolph/M. Gasol/P. Gasol
Milwaukee: Abdul-Jabbar/O. Robertson/Sidney Moncrief
Portland: Drexler/Walton/Terry Porter
San Antonio: Duncan/D. Robinson/Gervin
There you have it. Lots of legends. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Lebron James, Chris Paul, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes and Alonzo Mourning made at least 2 teams top 3. We sometimes forget how good Mark Price was. The Gasol brothers 2 and 3 with Memphis. Kobe over Magic? That is worth debating…
This was exhausting. I have to rest. After all, it is Patriots week and we are going tomorrow night. And the Jets may be a better opponent than New England anticipates. Plus I am away next weekend.
See you post-Halloween. Boo.
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